she had to fight breast cancer to encourage other women to get screened for the disease . After Ronald Reagan left office and later announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer 's disease , Nancy Reagan became an advocate for increasing research into the degenerative brain disorder . In that effort she opposed limits on embryonic stem cell research backed by then - President George W. Bush .
However , the idea of a head transplant has proved controversial with the medical establishment . Canavero has been criticised on ethical grounds and also by those who think it simply will not work . While head transplants have been performed on dogs and monkeys , the animals tested were unable to move following the procedure and died shortly afterwards . With the planned study , The Daily Telegraph quotes from various doctors who have expressed serious doubts about the likelihood of Mr Spiridinov ’s brain remaining functional by the time the surgerylife.injure.nais complete . More about head transplant , Transplant , Sergio Canavero More news from head transplant Transplant Sergio Canavero